Tuning an RX8?

B.Martin · March 23, 2011, 10:07:38 AM

I\'m sure I\'m getting annoying now, If I am just say please. I\'m just trying to gather as much information as possible before I purchase a car.

how does the FE respond to tuning i.e. Breathing mods, manifolds, de cat, full exhaust system, filters and induction (not forced) and does this push BHP up at all? Or is it mainly sound increase?

Can you get the FE upto 250bhp as a benchmark for my questions without spending big Â£Â£Â£\'s? (ie not turbo/supercharging)

I\'m not going to aka about handout upgrades because all cars benefit from coilovers and big brake upgrades.

Is there anything I\'ve missed about RX8 performance tuning? I can\'t buy a car and not mess with it, jut not me!

Ben

neil_jdmr · March 23, 2011, 01:56:57 PM

All NA cars struggle to improve on factory power figures with bolt-ons imo, I tried tuning honda b series engines for years and without chuckin a lot of money in then gains were minimal.

imo 250 genuine hp would be pricey

dthebuk · March 23, 2011, 05:51:05 PM

FE\'s are fairly tuned from factory if you think about it. Before the renesis engine you\'d only see 230bhp on an N/A rotary if you had done some serious porting on it and spent a fair bit on fueling set up and tuning etc. Even then it\'d have naff all torque!

Brakes I don\'t think are needed unless you plan to track the car, they\'re pretty impressive in standard form.

By all means put a propper exhuast and stuff on it (wont be cheap) as it will sound nuts. specially when screaming along at 9.5k rpms.

Powerwise, you\'re better off stripping the thing out tbh

B.Martin · March 23, 2011, 06:18:52 PM

Well DtheBuk after all these discussions I\'m coming tithe conclusion I\'m going to be better off with an FD. I\'d love to try going sideways and I love to mess about tuning and modifying. Just seemed that the FE would be the \'sensible\' option. What do you think?

Arnie_O · March 23, 2011, 06:41:27 PM

your not going to see serious gains without FI in the FE i am afraid... though there are NA options out there to get gains once you have spend the cash... one remap option is the Cobb Access Port from Mazda Maniac in the USA, He has mapped thousands of cars all over the world.
though to get descent gains then you are going to have to spend to cash wherever you can. Breathing mods will help...
but the biggest way to get power out the Renny is FI. though its not cheap and unless you get it right then its not reliable from what i am told.

dthebuk · March 23, 2011, 07:06:29 PM

If you can find a tidy fd, go for it! The only thing I\'d worry about is rats nest as they are hard to deal with if something goes wrong. Other than that, its pretty similar to the 8. Engine may die slightly quicker but thats about it!. If its got good compression and what not when you buy it theres no reason for it to die prematurely as long as you keep it serviced well.

Will66 · March 23, 2011, 07:31:10 PM

The RX8 will cost a lot to make 250bhp from N/A. Haywards have ported one and it is an improvement but I\'m not aware if they\'ve stuck it on a dyno to see what it makes yet. F/I will net 300 bhp on the standard fuel system but you\'re looking at Â£5k to get it all set up and running.

An aftermarket exhaust is practically essential for your RX8 but doesn\'t net you much power.

Intake kits can be tricky, the AEM/Mazdaspeed (it\'s the same kit) and the RB REVi are proven to be good. Other kits can upset the airflow over the MAF resulting in poor idle and sometimes less power. The AEM kit sounds awesome and the RB is quieter.

B.Martin · March 23, 2011, 07:50:20 PM

Thanks a lot for all the info and opinions, you truly are all good forum members. I hope to find a nice rotary powered car soon and really appreciate all the advice I\'ve been given. Watch this space an I will keep
It updated!

m1tch · March 27, 2011, 03:39:39 PM

Looks like even with a bolt on supercharger its only making 300 if you are lucky:

http://shop.pettitracing.com/pettit_racing/pettit_racing_supercharger_kit/g-62947.aspx

B.Martin · March 30, 2011, 10:32:03 PM

Quote from: m1tch;751949Looks like even with a bolt on supercharger its only making 300 if you are lucky:

http://shop.pettitracing.com/pettit_racing/pettit_racing_supercharger_kit/g-62947.aspx

Surely for the price that is you may as well drop in a 13b no?

Will66 · March 30, 2011, 10:55:59 PM

You\'ll spend as much again getting it set up and working.

300hp at the wheels makes the RX8 quite a quick machine, California Style has a Pettit Racing Supercharger on his and it\'s a rapid machine. But it\'s a lot of money and if you want big power you\'d be better off elsewhere.

Actually the Pettit Racing install is quite impressive, it\'s very smooth and linear. It really compliments the car.

B.Martin · March 31, 2011, 10:16:14 AM

It\'s a fair point to be making, but if your spendIng money on a supercharger 9/10 people want \'big power\' I\'d had thought. But I\'m not in anyway disagreeing with your precious statement!

dthebuk · March 31, 2011, 10:39:06 AM

you\'ve also gotta consider the cost of bringing a 13b up spec which isn\'t cheap.

The super chargers looks like a great option imo. You get to keep the characteristics of the high revving N/A rotary but with more torque and power. Down on paper it won\'t look that good, but i can imagine it\'d be lovely to drive. Would suck for fuel though!

Will66 · March 31, 2011, 12:58:20 PM

It\'s not much worse than stock according to California Style. Tony\'s got one on his RX8, and with his HKS ECU he\'s got 32 mpg out of it, that\'s unheard of for a stock RX8!

B.Martin · March 31, 2011, 01:55:40 PM

Quote from: Will66;752868It\'s not much worse than stock according to California Style. Tony\'s got one on his RX8, and with his HKS ECU he\'s got 32 mpg out of it, that\'s unheard of for a stock RX8!

Awesome - more power better economy!